The Jumping Off Point
| Series = Major Crimes | Season = 4 | Episode = 15 | Airdate = November 30, 2015 | Viewers = million | Writer = Leo Geter & Michaela Zara | Director = Nzingha Stewart | Guests = | Previous = | Next = | Episode list = Season 4}} Sharon and the team investigate the murder of a young man pushed off the top of a parking structure who was somehow able to afford a high-end apartment without any visible means of support. Meanwhile, Lt. Andy Flynn suffers through the ministrations of an overly cheerful physical therapist. The Victim *Kyle Gillan **Twenty year old hustler. **Performs both over a webcam and in person. **In a relationship and possibly in love with Grey Mitchell. **Eric Meyer's third known kept boy. **Thrown off a parking garage by Eric Meyer for having an affair with Grey. *Samir Patel **Twenty-one year old hustler. **Eric Meyer's second known kept boy. **Life threatened by Eric and raped at gunpoint by him. **Currently in the County Jail awaiting trial for drug possession and prostitution. *Leland Branch **Eric Meyer's first known kept boy. **Moved to a building in San Clemente by Eric some time ago. The Suspects *Carrie Gillan **Kyle's mother. **Sent her son two checks despite claiming not to know where he lived. **Briefly suspected than cleared. *Grey Mitchell **Bisexual hip-hop artist. **In a relationship and possibly in love with Kyle Gillan. **Briefly suspected of killing Kyle due to possible blackmail. *Jason Harper **60 year old man living in a building managed by Eric Meyer. **Identity borrowed by Eric. **Briefly suspected due to Eric using his name as an alias. *Eric Meyer **Manager of several buildings owned by the same company. **Has a wife and a six year old son in San Diego. **Borrowed Jason Harper's identity to co-sign for an apartment and as an alias. **Kept Leland Branch, Samir Patel and Kyle Gillan as his kept boys. **Raped Samir at gunpoint and threatened his life. **Murdered Kyle when Kyle tried to leave him for Grey Mitchell. Evidence Closing the Case Looking through Kyle's computer, the detectives discover that he has been selling high-end merchandise on EBay. As they stand around his computer, a session on a porn website called California Boys opens up, revealing that Kyle is an online porn star. In case the killer is one of Kyle's clients, Sharon covers the computer's webcam and has Buzz turn off the microphone. Prompted by a highly uncomfortable Rusty Beck, the detectives check out Kyle's profile video in which he suggests that his fans pay him with gifts from his wish list rather than charging their credit cards. Comparing Kyle's wish list to the items he was selling, its quickly realized that the items were originally sent to Kyle as gifts from his fans and then resold by Kyle for cash. In case one of Kyle's fans got obsessed with him, Tao decides to contact California Boys for their names while Sharon has Buzz contact PayPal to find out who of Kyle's fans is sending him gifts and what kind of cars they drive. Provenza and Sykes question Carrie Gillan who tells them that neither she nor her husband own a Porsche and can't afford one. Provenza and Sykes bring up the two checks they found in Kyle's apartment from Carrie totaling $6,000 despite Carrie claiming not to know where the apartment is. Carrie is reluctant to talk about how she sent Kyle the checks, finding it hard to talk about. The detectives inform Carrie that Kyle was pushed off the parking structure and murdered and didn't commit suicide, surprising her. Carrie explains that the year before, she found out that Kyle was selling himself on Craig's List when she was cleaning his room. Kyle was not only an online performer, but he could be hired in person as well. When Carrie told her husband Don, Don freaked out on Kyle who left and never came back. Kyle then changed phone numbers and Carrie could no longer get in touch with her son. Upset, Carrie admits that in desperation, she made an appointment with Kyle over the Internet and even rented a hotel room to make it look real. While Kyle was upset, he allowed Carrie to talk to him, but refused to come home even when he heard that Don was gone. Kyle compared going home to prison and claimed that he was fine and getting rich. Kyle gave Carrie the last hug she ever got from him and left. Carrie followed her son back to the Stanwick where she sent him the checks as proof that she could take care of him and loved him. "I don't think Kyle wanted to need me," Carrie tells the detectives through her tears and Sharon believes her story. Kyle left Carrie with no phone number to contact him and she didn't tell Kyle's new address to Don who she no longer speaks with. Julio is able to get California Boys to give the detectives a list of Kyle's fans. Kyle has over a hundred gold pass members interested in him worldwide, but there is one who drives a brand-new Porsche Panamera and lives in LA. The man is a hip-hop artist named Grey Mitchell whose Instagram is full of Grey with scantily-dressed women. The detectives suspect that Grey is on the down-low about being gay and couldn't risk it being known he was into guys like Kyle. Kyle could've used this to blackmail Grey which might be why he told his mother he was getting rich. If Kyle had tried to blackmail Grey, Grey would've had motive for murder. While they don't have enough to get Grey a search warrant, Sharon suggests that there is a way to get Grey to cooperate if he has a lawyer. Grey shows up with a lawyer and two bodyguards and is met with Sharon, Provenza and Sykes. After flirting with Sykes, Grey makes it clear he wants to leave and refuses to meet with the detectives alone. After they tell him that they want to speak about Kyle Gillan, Grey immediately dismisses his entourage and lawyer and agrees to talk to them alone. Sharon and Tao question Grey who admits he was in the parking garage to meet with Kyle the night before, but he claims that Kyle never showed up. Grey claims to have met Kyle through "a mutual friend" and when Sharon asks if he means the Internet, Grey confirms it. He tells them that he met Kyle through a webcam site four months before, but its not illegal and he never gave Kyle any money, just gifts while they were talking online. Grey stops answering questions to ask if they are going public with this information. When Tao questions if Grey is worried about his sexual orientation coming out, Grey tells them that he isn't. Grey is bisexual and has been out his entire career. All his fans care about is Grey being single, a player and possibly available to them after one of his shows. As a result, they can't know that Grey is settling down with anyone. Grey explains that Kyle had texted him the night before to meet at 10:30pm when Kyle got back from the gym. However, while Grey parked in the garage next to Kyle's car and went downstairs to meet with him, Kyle never showed up. Grey mentions a roommate Kyle has that he doesn't want to see him and how he never goes to the apartment unless he's sure that the man isn't there. Grey identifies the man as "a Jason something" that travels a lot. When Jason isn't at the apartment, its a good place for them to hang out. Sykes notes that the apartment is a two-bedroom so maybe Jason slept on the futon. Checking the lease, Provenza only finds Kyle's name. Apparently not knowing that Kyle is dead, Grey asks them if Kyle is with them and states that Kyle is no longer hustling and they are wrong about whatever they think he did. Sharon and Tao inform Grey that Kyle was murdered the night before, shoved over the railing of the parking garage. As Grey was in the garage that night, he is a suspect. In obvious shock, Grey is left wondering who and why someone murdered Kyle. Grey reluctantly allows Tao to take a DNA sample, but refuses to sign a consent form for them to search his cell phone. Stating that they obviously don't get how hard this is for him, Grey asks the detectives to send in his lawyer. However, Grey's admission to being in the parking garage the night of Kyle's murder will be enough for them to get a search warrant. After looking through Grey's phone, Buzz is able to find out that Kyle has a burner phone. While they may never find it, they now know the phone number as Grey's cell phone has "lots of graphic texts" with Kyle's phone. Buzz states that from the texts, Grey and Kyle sound like they are in love. Kyle's phone records also show a lot of calls to a San Diego area code, but its also to a burner phone and is of no help to them. Sykes suggests that the number belongs to Kyle's roommate Jason who is out of town a lot. Checking with the application center for the apartment building, Tao finds out that the last tenant before Kyle was a twenty-on year old young man named Samir Patel. Samir is in the County Jail awaiting trial for drug possession and prostitution. Sharon and Sykes realize that it can't be a coincidence that another young hustler was living in the same two-bedroom apartment before being replaced by Kyle. Samir is brought in for questioning by Sykes. Samir tells Sykes that he doesn't know Kyle and just wants to get out of the County Jail. Samir identifies Jason as Jason Harper, a pharmaceutical representative who is always away at conferences. Tao and Buzz begin a search for the correct Jason Harper in either LA or San Diego based on the area code on the burner cell phone Kyle was calling. At Sharon's suggestion, they also search LinkedIn for Jason Harper's who identify themselves as pharmaceutical reps. Samir shows reluctance to talk about what Jason was to him before admitting that Jason was his boyfriend. Samir met Jason on Craig's List when he was selling himself. Samir spent a night with Jason at a hotel who offered to get him a nice apartment downtown. Samir accepted it and Jason also got him a phone and an expensive gym membership. Samir spent a little over three months in the apartment, but interrupts his story to ask for help in getting out of jail. Sykes prompts Samir for more specifics on why he left Jason. Samir explains that Jason is a really scary guy. Jason never wanted to go out and is older, "thirty-five maybe." Samir went alone to a nearby club to meet up with some friends and have some fun, but when he returned Jason was enraged at his actions. Jason threatened Samir with a gun and promised to kill Samir if Samir ever stepped out on him again. Jason then proceeded to force Samir to have sex with him. "He raped you," realizes Sykes. Samir is shocked that it counts as rape, having believed that due to him being a hustler it wouldn't count. Sykes assures him that anyone who is forced to have sex with someone is raped. Samir finishes his story by telling Sykes that after the rape, he fled when Jason fell asleep and never went back. Samir pleads for Sykes to help him get out of jail and she agrees to help if he writes everything down for her. Sykes tells Samir to include the rape, that it is very important. At the same time, Tao is unable to find any Jason Harper's in pharmaceuticals. Sharon orders him to contact the owners of the apartment and to ask for the history of that apartment for the past three years. "Murder and rape. I think I'll have to cancel my dinner," Provenza quips. Tao comes back with the information that the only names on the apartment have been the three tenants: Samir, Kyle and a guy named Leland Branch that they can't find. While Jason Harper's name appears on the applications as a co-signer, the credit check ran by the owners comes back to a legitimate Jason Harper. The credit check comes back to the real Jason Harper's driver's license number and credit cards, but with a different mailing address, phone number and a couple of extra credit cards issued in his name. The detectives realize that the real Jason Harper, who is around sixty and far too old to be mistaken for "thirty something", had his identity borrowed for the credit checks. Sharon realizes that Jason lives in an apartment and thus must've filled out an application at some point. As a result, their killer likely got the information from that application. Tao decides to check on who owns the building the real Jason Harper lives in. After checking on the information, the detectives have Eric Meyer, the manager of Kyle's apartment building come in. Julio thanks Eric for the security footage from the parking structure and tells him that they found a suspicious young man entering the parking structure. After reading Eric his rights, Julio leads him into the murder room and tells Eric that they have a suspect but no witnesses. Julio shows Eric a picture of Grey Mitchell and identifies him as their suspect, asking if Eric had ever seen Grey before. Eric tells them that he did, that he'd ridden up the elevator in the parking structure two nights before with Grey and they talked. Sharon and Sykes tell Eric that they are glad he was in the parking structure two nights before as they had thought he wasn't there since Eric hadn't mentioned it. Eric quickly claims that he had forgotten to mention that he'd had to go to the Stanwick to help a tenant who'd locked herself out of her apartment. Provenza points out the oddness of Eric's statement that he rode up the elevator with Grey since Meyer's parking spot is on the ground floor. Eric tries to lie that someone else took his parking spot that night, but they have security footage of Eric's car parked in its usual spot. Sharon and Sykes reveal that they have discovered that Eric manages several apartment buildings, including the one that the real Jason Harper lives in. Provenza pulls off Eric's jacket so that Sykes and Julio can roll up his sleeves to check if Eric has any cuts and bruises since Kyle struggled with his killer. On Eric's arms are a few cuts and Tao takes a DNA sample as Eric struggles with Sykes and Julio. DDA Hobbs joins the group as Eric continues to struggle and spew threats. Though Julio wants to just arrest Eric on the spot, Sharon decides to give him the opportunity to "make things easier for all of us." In exchange for Eric getting a lawyer and writing out a statement that includes how he used a building he was managing to house a boy he was keeping and murdered him for having an affair, Hobbs will give him a deal for second degree murder. As Eric continues to struggle and argue, Sharon offers him the other choice being taken to an interview room to be reunited with Samir Patel, the boy he kept and raped at gunpoint before Kyle. Hobbs warns that if Samir identifies Eric Meyer as the man who called himself Jason Harper, she will have to add sexual assault charges and he would get consecutive sentences since his crimes were against two different people. Julio reminds Eric of his family in San Diego, including a young son who might have a hard time understanding what his father did. Tao suggests that Eric's cooperation would make things easier for his family. Sharon tells him that Eric would have to explain what happened to Leland Branch, the young man who proceeded Samir and assure them that Leland is still alive. Eric tells them that they have it all wrong and that Kyle had wanted to leave him for Grey. Eric claims that when her refused to let him do that, Kyle tried to throw him off of the parking garage and it was self-defense. However, Kyle's broken fingernails show that he was dragged along his car struggling to hold onto anything he could to prevent from being thrown off the garage to his death. Hobbs promises that if Leland Branch is alive and unhurt, she will call him a lawyer herself. "Leland? He's fine. I just moved him to a building in San Clemente. That's all," sneers Eric. Sharon tells Eric that he has a choice of either accepting the second degree murder deal or to have them attach the sexual assault and have Eric disappear for the rest of his life. During a conversation between Sharon and Andy Flynn, its revealed that Eric took the second degree murder deal. Flynn is disgusted by the fact that Eric had a wife and kid in San Diego and a boyfriend in LA. Flynn is also upset by the fact that they can't charge Eric with the rape of Samir Patel, but without any physical evidence its too much of a "he said, he said" situation. Sharon and Flynn note how Eric's new relationship with the State of California is similar to Eric's relationship with his kept boys, only in reverse. While the sentence Eric received is never revealed, Sharon and Flynn's conversation suggests that it was life without parole. Guest Cast Co-Starring * Jack Depew as Kyle Gillan Recurring * Dawnn Lewis as Patrice Perry * Garrett Coffey as Slider Locations Episode Notes *Rusty's past as a teenage prostitute is briefly touched upon by his instantly recognizing the site the victim used and his knowledge of it. He is also shown to be uncomfortable with the reminder of his past. The Other Side of the Coin *Rusty visits Slider, now going by Greg once more in prison at his request. The two discuss Greg's interview and how he came off in it before Greg asks if Rusty will be at his trial. Rusty confirms it as he is covering Greg's story causing Greg to ask if he can wave to Rusty and Rusty will wave back which Rusty, surprised by this, agrees. Greg admits that he doesn't have anyone who will be there for him besides Rusty and Rusty caring about him like that means a lot to him. Rusty is left stunned at this revelation. Andy's Health *Andy is shown to have survived his surgery and is in recovery. The blood clot is completely gone, but he has to go home with Sharon and Rusty for rehabilitation, something he is reluctant to do as he doesn't want to be a burden to them. Provenza and Patrice *Patrice visits Andy to reassure him about his condition. During the visit, Andy inadvertently reveals that Provenza plans to propose to Patrice. As a result, Provenza avoids Patrice who visits him at the end to state that she has rescheduled their dinner reservations and set it up to be "memorable" for them. Both agree they are ready for the dinner and engagement without outright stating it. *While the proposal is not shown, Provenza and Patrice all but get engaged in the murder room. Later episodes confirm the engagement happened. Trivia *While visiting Andy, Patrice finds that Andy has a signed DNR, causing her to jokingly ask if someone is trying to kill him. Andy notes that it was Provenza, a reference to the scene in where Andy gets annoyed when Provenza is filling out all of his medical forms. Episode Media Category:MC Season 4 Category:Major Crimes Category:Episodes